Taiwanese phone maker HTC confirmed rumors through its Facebook Page that both HTC Thunderbolt and Desire S will be getting Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update by the end of August. This is after the company failed to meet many of its promises in bringing ICS to its devices in July.

A report from Google shows 60% of Android devices worldwide today run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread but ICS is slowly gaining momentum. This month, 16% of the total population of Android has already updated their software to 4.0, a 5.1% increase from last month’s 10.9%. Some HTC devices will remain having Gingerbread while majority are capable of running ICS. HTC flagships like HTC One series are expected to be getting the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, although the rollout date hasn’t been disclosed yet.

Originally released with Android 2.2 Froyo and a single-core processor clocked at 1GHz, HTC Thunderbolt is lucky to be seeing an update to ICS. Many original Froyo devices are only capable of handling processes of Gingerbread. HTC Desire S, on the other hand, has always been rumored to run 4.0 despite having almost the same specs as with the Thunderbolt.

The ICS update is a major bump from Gingerbread as it comes with a lot of features, fixes and improvements. Perhaps, one of the best features it showcases to the market is better web browsing that will let users open up to 16 browsers tab at once. It also has an option to sync bookmarks from your Google Chrome account.

The key strength of this version is multitasking. This is made more visual with better-looking interface and app buttons. Users can also jump right away from a task to another by selecting any task listed on the System Bar. And as far as user interface is concerned, HTC devices are blessed with HTC Sense UI that would make the device even cooler from the inside out.

One of the notable features of ICS which can also be seen on HTC Thunderbolt and Desire S is the capability of responding to calls with a text. Users are given the options to ignore calls without being rude. They can setup their phones to automatically send a text message to the calling party in cases like the user is unavailable for the time being.

Want to ignore incoming calls without being rude? All you need to do is to swipe up, and you will be prompted with a list of canned messages you can tap stating that calls are not being accepted at this time. Respond to calls with a text. The choices are “Can’t talk right now.”, “What’s up?”, and “I’ll call you right back.” For your convenience, you have the option to add your own responses and customize the list from the Settings app.

Aside from adding shortcuts, the Android 4.0 ICS allows users to embed live application content directly through the interactive widgets. The Home Screen for this version are designed to be content-rich and customizable. Owners can either expand to show more content or shrink to save space as widgets are resizable.

There is a nearly endless list of great new features that this version offers. This is certainly good news for HTC Thunderbolt and Desire S users. Hopefully, HTC will get the upgrades done in time and roll them out by the end August.

Disclaimer

Disclaimer: we are not affiliated with the device manufacturers or phone carriers we mention in any way, all suggestions are based on our own experience and research, you may use our advice at your own discretion.